


As Echoes of the Past

by alikuu (peachBitch1)



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Blink And You Miss It Slash, First Meetings, Friendship/Love, Gen, Implied Relationships, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Storytelling, Tactile Friendship, Team Up, closeness, precanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26511148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachBitch1/pseuds/alikuu
Summary: The fellowship learns the story of the beginning of the close friendship between Aragorn and Legolas.
Relationships: Aragorn | Estel/Legolas Greenleaf
Comments: 3
Kudos: 56
Collections: Innumerable Stars 2020





	As Echoes of the Past

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smaragdbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smaragdbird/gifts).



> Special thanks to my beta Moonstonemama 💖

After a long day of trekking through Eregion’s breezy hillsides, the fellowship was making camp near a copse of pines and hollies. The hobbits were cooking dinner by the fire, Gandalf smoked, and Gimli and Boromir were tending to their weapons.

Legolas appeared with dry branches for firewood, enough to sustain them through the night, just as Aragorn returned from scouting the parameter. As man and elf adjoined paths and walked shoulder to shoulder, Sam curiously looked up from the potato he was peeling.

“I thought elves were all cold and distant, but Legolas seems to be terribly fond of Strider,” he murmured near Frodo’s ear, eager to keep his observations a secret.

Frodo followed his friend’s gaze just in time to see Aragorn clasp a hand around Legolas’s shoulder and the duo laughing at some joke that the hobbits couldn’t discern. 

“For all the time I was in Rivendel, and that was more than most folk would say they’ve been,” Sam continued, “I’ve seen more touches exchanged between our Strider and this elven prince, than I have seen between any elven couple, if you get what I mean.”

Frodo burst out laughing before he could stifle it. He tried to school his expression as his eyes met Aragorn’s across the campside, knowing he'd been caught. To the hobbit’s surprise, the ranger answered with happy laughter of his own, and the elf with a knowing smirk.

“You make a good point, master Gamgee,” Aragorn said, proving that his hearing was keener than a hobbit’s. “But although I don’t know the reason why elves prefer not to court in public, I can tell you why Legolas and I are such close friends.”

Sam’s embarrassment made him turn a shade of red that could have been the envy of any beetroot in his father’s garden. Frodo recovered faster, and hurried to jump to his friend’s rescue.

“If there’s a story to be told, we’d be glad to hear it!”

“There’s a story indeed,” Aragorn stalled, plopping by the fire, while Legolas arranged the firewood into a neat pile. “But I am not sure I could tell it alone, lest I tell it wrong and offend my esteemed friend.”

Legolas, who had always appeared composed and graceful, made a rather inelegant sound of amusement with his throat. 

“I’d like to hear it,” Gimli butted in. “With all the embarrassing details, as long as they are on our elf-friend’s behalf!” 

Frodo looked between the other fellowship members with growing concern. They were a group of very different individuals, Gandalf only smiled enigmatically as he serenely observed the situation.

“Let’s tell the tale together,” Legolas proposed, sitting by Aragorn’s side, close enough for their shoulders to brush. “Perhaps Gandalf should start, for my first meeting with Aragorn was largely by his design.”

“Let us leave the story of the creature Gollumn for another time,” Gandalf raised his hands and shook his head. “It is too beautiful a night to ruin with such a dark tale.”

“Gollumn? Isn’t that the creature that Bilbo took the ring…” Pippin began until he was loudly shushed by Merry. 

Frodo let out a sigh of relief when his younger cousin didn’t utter another word about the ring.

“Very well,” Aragorn agreed. “Forgoing the long and unpleasant story of how I was tasked with bringing Gollumn to the Wood elves and met Legolas for the first time, let's skip to the part that I feared would bring some anguish to my elven friend.”

“Nay, I have already come to terms with my people’s failure to guard the creature,” Legolas’s youthful face soured despite his calmly uttered words, “and I accept all responsibility for any ills that misdeed has begotten.”

“There’s no need for shame, Legolas Greenleaf,” Gandalf interjected. “You proved your dedication to the cause when you left your homeland without the express permission of your father and king, risking Thranduil’s wrath in doing so. And soon enough you found Aragorn amongst his rangers of the Dúnedain, although that part is best told by you.”

“Yes, I followed Gollumn’s trail in the direction of the Misty Mountains, but each day it seemed that he was making leaway, while I was tarrying behind. The trail was cold, but I was fortunate to chance upon Aragorn’s camp.”

“And imagine my surprise when Legolas of the woodland realm, whom I remembered from my earlier visit as a proud prince, turned up at my camp, disheveled and looking like he hadn’t slept in weeks,” Aragorn chuckled.

“Not that disheveled, surely,” Legolas rolled his eyes.

“Your hair had definitely seen better days,” Aragorn teased, making the elf blush just a bit. 

“And the first thing you did was offer me a comb,” Legolas huffed. “For such insolence I could have ran you through with my dagger.”

“Good thing you didn’t, or you and I would never have become friends,” Aragorn smiled fondly.

“Wait, so Legolas just happened upon your camp, in the middle of nowhere,” Merry asked disbelievingly. “What are the odds of that?!”

“There are other forces that work in this world, besides the will of evil,” Gandalf explained. “Something guided Legolas to Aragorn, a force that was on our side.”

“That, or our camp wasn’t in the middle of nowhere, but rather strategically positioned to guard against spies and enemies,” Aragorn added. “When I found out that we had somehow let Gollumn slip by us unnoticed, I felt just as personally responsible for finding him as Legolas did. This shared duty brought us together and we made a pact.”

“To work together and hunt down Gollumn,” Legolas smiled wolfishly. “And what a chase we gave!”

“Yes, together we followed the trail. It had long turned cold, but with each other’s help, we made it all the way to the Misty Mountains.”

“Not that it was easy,” Legolas arched an eyebrow, “slowed down by a human, who needed to stop to rest or eat almost daily.”

“Not easy at all, when at all times your travel companion tries to lord over you, with the hauntiness of a prince in his own realm,” Aragorn agreed. “At times I was afraid Legolas’s back couldn’t get more stiff without snapping.”

“I can’t say I wanted to be close to a ranger, who smelled like sweat and whose hair had never encountered the comb he so generously offers to others.”

“Nor did I think I would ever want anything to do with an elf who appeared to spend more time preening than hunting his quarry. And yet…”

Both storytellers paused, each looking at the fire thoughtfully, as if gathering themselves for the next part of the story.

“And yet, what happened then,” Pippin asked impatiently.

“Our trail led us to a cave on the side of a cliff,” Aragorn recalled, his tone turning somber. “We entered it, and followed along, unaware that we had come across the entrance of a goblin tunnel. Before we knew it, we were deep underground, lost in a chaotic net of goblin-infested caves. That’s when our strength and cunning was truly put to the test.”

“Haaah, I bet you wished you were stuck underground with a dwarf instead of an elf,” Gimli laughed uproariously. “Would have gotten you out of there in a jiffy!”

“I would have rather died in those tunnels than be stuck in there with a dwarf,” Legolas answered poisonously, to Gimli‘s visible dismay.

“Please, don’t stop there - continue the story,” Merry urged, once again intervening in the nick of time.

“We were lost,” Aragorn recalled, “And we had a few nasty encounters with the inhabitants of those tunnels. While we fought and fled, Legolas and I hopelessly lost track of Gollumn’s trail and accepted that we could follow it no further without forfeiting our lives. But in the darkness and smoke of those rough hewn tunnels, our friendship was forged and tempered.”

“We needed to rely on each other,” Legolas agreed. “We fought side by side and back to back. Aragorn guarded my flank in those uneven battles, and his words inspired hope in me that we would yet see the starlight.”

“I wouldn’t be here if Legolas hadn’t caught me when I lost my footing and nearly fell off a narrow path and into a gaping chasm below,” Aragorn reminisced. “Our hands were so grimy, covered in sweat, blood and soot - I was afraid that he would let me slip, but he hauled me up, and held my shoulders to guide me through the darkness where my eyes couldn’t make out the path.”

“And when we finally resurfaced, we were far from the place we had entered the tunnels, high amongst the white-capped peaks, in the middle of a snow storm,” Legolas continued. “It was a piercing cold that even I couldn’t weather. But neither of us wanted to go back into those evil tunnels for shelter.”

“So we wrapped ourselves in our cloaks and held onto each other for warmth,” Aragorn recalled. “That night, I was convinced that we would freeze to death, lying side by side in the snow. But instead, like Tuor and Voronwë before us, we survived the bitter cold in each other’s arms.”

Everyone except for Gandalf and Legolas looked perplexed by the reference. Frodo made a mental note to ask the wizard about it later.

“Tuor and whom,” Pippin blurted out, brow furrowed as if his mind was hard at work.

“A story for another time,” Gandalf smiled knowingly, his eyes darting to Frodo.

“When we finally got off the mountain, I couldn’t help but pull the same elf I had earlier found so infuriating into a tight embrace,” Aragorn grinned at the memory.. 

“You might have done more than that,” Legolas hummed, glancing to the side innocently.

“I thought I was not supposed to tell about that part,” Aragorn chuckled.

“What did you do,” Pippin demanded, but was once again shushed loudly by his older cousin.

“Aragorn accompanied me to face my father’s wrath together,” Legolas explained. “He hoped to convince him that I had run away with a fair purpose. Luckily, my father had been so concerned about my disappearance that he forgot to be dismayed and didn’t even try to punish Aragorn or I.”

“Instead he seemed more concerned about our close friendship than anything else,” Aragorn added.

“It was quite controversial and the talk of the woods for a few decades to come,” Legolas’ eyes sparkled with amusement. “So many wondered about the mortal man, whom I had brought into the woods with me. They likened you to Túrin, and were afraid that I had become bewitched by your fair looks and aura of doom. In the end, when they saw that I wasn’t pining after your departure, everyone calmed down, but it was amusing how they fretted while it lasted.”

“You didn’t pine for me,” Aragorn’s affronted tone wasn’t too convincing. Legolas wrapped his arm around the man’s shoulder and pulled him closer.

“Not one bit,” he claimed with a smirk.

“I can imagine that Thranduil wasn’t too thrilled by the idea of his son becoming a new Beleg,” Gandalf said. “And thankfully, Aragorn has a kinder fate set before him than Túrin did, so there’s nothing to fear.”

With that the story was concluded, but looking amongst the fellowship, Frodo could tell that he wasn’t the only one who felt that he’d gotten only half of the tale. He kept his ignorance to himself, but Sam wasn’t so subtle.

“With all these comparisons to heroes I have never heard about, I feel even more confused now,” he admitted.

“We have many days and evenings ahead of us. There will be plenty of time for storytelling,” Aragorn offered. “If you wish, I could tell the stories of the men of the First Age and the elves they befriended. Then you will understand what it is that Legolas and I share.”

“I would like to hear those stories too,” Frodo volunteered, earning another warm smile from Gandalf.

“And you shall,” the wizard said, emptying the ashes from his pipe. “But for now, I believe dinner is in order. Who else is hungry?”

The hobbits’ enthusiasm was loud and clear and the fellowship laughed, as their smallest companions pounced on the potato stew with hunger better suited for creatures double their size.

**Author's Note:**

> Dear recipient, I hope you liked this story at least as much as I enjoyed writing it, and that it was what you were hoping to read! Cheers xxx


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